


Overheard

by VeriLee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Ben Works At The Stables, F/M, Faulty Walkie Talkie As A Modern Forcebond Device, Rey Is A Unit Counselor, Rey Wants Ben To Sweet Talk Her Too, Stoic Ben Solo Is A Softie When He Talks To The Horses, camp counselors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 13:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17245517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeriLee/pseuds/VeriLee
Summary: Lake Naboo Summer Camp gives all the staff walkie-talkies to communicate through, which makes sense since cell reception is shoddy at best out here. Overall, they come in handy, but Rey's walkie-talkie is a bit of a rogue, crackling to life of its own accord, when she hasn't even pressed a button.And always,always, it’s Ben on the other end.





	Overheard

 

* * *

 

 

Lake Naboo Summer Camp gives all the staff walkie-talkies to communicate through, which makes sense since cell reception is shoddy at best out here. There’s an open radio channel to broadcast to every unit at once, as well the functionality to make a direct one-to-one call to a specific receiver.

All in all, they come in handy, whether you’ve got an injured kid on a hike or just need to radio the lodge to let them know about a delay so nobody panics over missing campers.

The only problem is, Rey’s walkie-talkie keeps connecting to the head riding instructor’s, seemingly of its own accord. A few times, it’s happened when she’s been trying to radio someone else – the nurse’s cabin to check on one of her campers, or Poe over at the docks to make sure he has the canoes ready for her kids.

Sometimes, however, the communicator crackles to life when she hasn’t even pressed a button.  And always, _always_ , it’s Ben on the other end. 

It would be easier to ignore if it were anyone else that her cursed radio wanted to connect her to.

Sometimes she’ll suddenly hear him talking, and other times it’s _her_ mic that’s been activated – and she doesn’t realize until he presses the ‘page’ button to get her attention and let her know to click ‘end.’ He’s always very polite about it. It’s not so bad when she’s just been calling morning attendance or something – it’s a little more embarrassing when she’s been leading songs, at the top of her voice and very off-key.

Ben swears up and down that he’s not dialing her either, and she believes him. She’s heard him joking around with the other stable hands or instructing campers in their riding lessons, which is typical enough, but she’s also heard him baby-talking to the horses, displaying a soft side she doesn’t think he’d willingly make public.

The most mortifying connection, however, happens during the mid-summer break – no campers for a week, so that the counselors can have some extra time off, supplies can be replenished, and the camp can get cleaned up a bit. Lake Naboo is strangely empty and quiet for that week – aside from the absence of children, some of the staff goes home.

Rey doesn’t go home – she’s not going to fly back to England for a mere week and doesn’t have anyone back there she misses, anyway. Ben stays as well; the horses aren’t going anywhere, so clearly they still need to be fed and their stalls mucked, campers or no. A handful of other counselors stick around too, including Rose and Finn, two people that have fast become dear friends to Rey.

It’s Rose’s fault, really. She’s the one that went into town Wednesday and came back with a case of beer – cheap beer, but enough of it to get decently tipsy with. Rey and Rose, along with Finn, Poe and a couple of others spend the night drinking in the parking lot – laughing and talking and listening to music a little too loudly.  

At some point Rey finds herself laying in the buffalo grass next to Rose, staring up at the stars while classic rock plays on the radio. Rey is a little too far gone to pay attention to the song. She’s also a little too far gone to notice the telltale crackle of the walkie-talkie in her pocket as the connection sparks to life.

Instead, she tries and fails to see patterns in the night sky. It’s such a wild mess of sparkling lights out here, so far from the city. She doesn’t know how the ancients found pictures in all that chaos, much less how Rose can see them, even in her current state.

“That’s Pegasus,” Rose says, her voice a little slurred.

“Huh?” Rey follows Rose’s finger as she draws something in the air, connecting dots, but she doesn’t see a horse. She’s not sure she would see a horse even if she were sober. “I don’t see any horses.”

“It’s more…like, like a box with legs,” Rose explains. “You have to use your imagination.”

Rey knows she must be drunk because that makes her laugh way too hard and way too long, which spurs Rose into laughing with her.

Finally, when they’ve caught their breath, Rey turns to face Rose and blurts out, “Sometimes I wish Ben would talk to me like he talks to the horses.”

It’s absurd and out of nowhere and if Rey were planning to confide in Rose about her crush on the head riding counselor, she could think of a million better ways to phrase it. But that’s what comes out of her mouth, sending Rose into another fit of giggles.

“What, you want him to _offer you some sugar_?” Rose can barely finish the joke before she’s choking on her laughter. She pauses. “Wait, do they even give horses sugar cubes or is that just something in cartoons?”

“I don’t know. Shut up,” Rey says, but without any real malice. She feels her face flush. “No, I just mean…he’s really sweet when he thinks nobody is listening. I’ve heard him, over the radio a few times. He talks to the horses like they’re people…like they matter.”

“You like him!” Rose accuses, “Like, you _really_ like him!”

Rey shrugs. “Maybe,” she whispers.

“You never know,” Rose muses, taking her role as confidant a little more seriously. “Maybe he feels the same. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him staring at you.”

“You have not,” Rey denies. “He’s barely ever said two words to me.”

“Well, next time you’re in the lodge getting coffee, just ask him to _pass the sugar_.” Rose attempts to make the comment sound suggestive but dissolves once again into peals of laughter.

Rey rolls her eyes and tells Rose she’s going to fetch them both some water, with a pointed look. It’s only when she stands up that she notices the light on her walkie-talkie glowing from inside her pocket. She pulls it out and sure enough, the little ‘mic on’ dot is the one that’s lit up. Rey doesn’t think anything could sober her up faster than that shock.

_It’s late, it’s late. Please be asleep, please be asleep_ , she chants inside her head as she hits the ‘end’ button to cut off the transmission.

 

* * *

 

It’s easy enough to avoid Ben the next couple days. Without campers to take down for riding lessons, Rey has no need to go down to the stables, and she heads to the lodge for meals at odd times. Even her walkie-talkie decides to play nice and only connects her to Ben once when she’s trying to reach the camp director. ( _“Sorry! Wrong person!”_ she trills, in a voice a little too high, before disconnecting.)

Rose is a little less forgiving and teases her about sugar, with a wicked grin, whenever she has the chance (“This tea is too bitter; it needs sugar, don’t you think?” or “I have hiccups, can you bring me some sugar?”). Finn looks a bit confused, but when he turns his questioning gaze towards Rey, she just shrugs, as if she doesn’t know what’s gotten into Rose either.

But the peace can only last so long, and soon a new group of kids has arrived and Rey has to trek down to the stables with her campers daily. She can barely meet Ben’s gaze, still unsure if he heard her or not. He doesn’t say anything, but that could just be him being polite. Either way, Rey seems to be blushing constantly in his presence and can only _hope_ he’ll think she has a sunburn.

Three days into the new session, after the kids are saddled up, two of the riding counselors that work under Ben take the campers out on their trail ride and suddenly Ben and Rey find themselves nearly alone at the stables, aside from the rest of the horses and one other stable hand whose made herself scarce.  

Rey is sitting on a bench outside the barn, reviewing her schedule for the rest of the week when a shadow crosses her page. She looks up and Ben is standing over her.

“Scavenger,” he says, by way of greeting. The staff all have made up camp names for the kids to address them by – it’s supposed to keep things from being too formal with “miss and mister” titles, without being too casual either.

“Kylo,” Rey replies, meeting Ben’s eyes for the first time in several days. She realizes, belatedly, that she’s still wearing a crown of dandelions and crabgrass that one of her campers had woven for her – the child was so proud, she couldn’t refuse – and her blush intensifies.

Ben rubs the back of his neck with one of his large hands and shifts his jaw as if he’s getting ready to speak but he remains silent. Unless Rey is mistaken, he’s blushing too; even the tips of his ears, peeking out from his messy black hair, are red.

“So the other day, er, night,” he finally says, “I guess our walkie-talkies, um, connected?”

“I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry!” Rey blurts out.

Suddenly she feels entirely too little, sitting so low and staring up at him. She jumps to her feet. She still has to look up at Ben ( _who doesn’t?_ ) but she feels a little more on even footing now.

Unfortunately, she miscalculated the distance between them and the quick change to standing up has brought her very close to his broad chest. She’s stuck, though, as she can’t step back without falling onto the bench.

“That’s ok,” Ben replies automatically, “I mean, that is, you don’t have to apologize. Unless you, um, want to… But I mean I wasn’t…bothered…”

He seems as nervous around Rey as she is around him, which emboldens her. _I really hope I’m reading this right_ , she thinks as she takes in a deep breath.

“Well,” Rey begins, “I didn’t mean to radio you, but I did, um, mean what I said.” Her voice is barely more than a whisper by the time she gets the words out, but at least she _does_ manage to get them out.

“So you mean…you…?” Ben doesn’t finish his question but Rey nods anyway. His eyes dart from her own, down to her lips and back again, half frantic and half relieved. “Um, can I…?”

Again Rey nods. And suddenly Ben is ducking his head to hers, as Rey rises up on her toes, and their lips and teeth crash together awkwardly. Ben pulls away just a bit and Rey chuckles nervously.

Then he closes the distance, and their lips meet again, softer this time, and less hurried. Rey leans into the kiss, winding her arms around Ben’s neck, as his own hands find her hips, holding her close. He smells like pine and oats and the mountain air around them as well as something musky and savory and uniquely Ben.

“And for the record,” Ben says, when they break away for air, “horses _do like_ sugar, but it’s not very good for them, so we give them healthier treats.”

Rey laughs. When she finally steps out of Ben’s embrace (not that she’d mind staying there a _long_ time, but they _are_ at a summer camp and need to behave) she grasps his hand tightly.

Suddenly she is very, _very_ appreciative of her faulty walkie-talkie.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on tumblr several months ago. The prompt from @itspileofgoodthings was "Overheard" - so here we have a rogue walkie-talkie acting as a modern version of the Forcebond. :) :)
> 
> I originally had this in my drabble collection, but then I decided nearly 2k was enough to post it alone. :)


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